1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved glass cutter which facilitates the cutting of glass and which allows full visibility of a line along which glass is to be cut.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional glass cutters are hand-held instruments having sharpened wheels which are drawn along a glass plate to score the glass to form a line along which the glass plate can be fractured.
The prior art includes various examples of hand-held glass cutters as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,210,193 to Dillaud discloses a glass cutter which includes a handle portion and a head portion. The head portion includes parallel furcations which support an axle on which a cutter disk rides. The space between the parallel furcations provides a sight line.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,566,544 to Wyman discloses a glass cutter wheel head which is mounted on an axle made from a solid cylindrical rod. A wire clip is provided for hooking the axle and attaching and interconnecting the glass cutter wheel to the holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,685,764 to Hatfield discloses a glass cutter having a body with a forwardly projecting arm with a glass scoring element mounted thereon. The projecting arm is resiliently biased downward such that the glass scoring element is normally positioned below the plane of the lower side of the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,868 to Kuthroff discloses a glass cutter which includes a body with a cutting wheel mounted thereon. A support member is spaced apart from the cutting wheel and provides support to the cutting wheel. The support member retains the cutting wheel in a perpendicular plane with respect to the glass to be cut. Also shown is an adapter body for use with a glass cutter which is received and retained in an aperture which is formed in the body. A concave recess is provided for accommodating the index finger of a user. The user's thumb and middle finger are positioned on either side of the apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,801 to Gelfman discloses a hand held glass cutter having a body which has a cutting wheel and two other points extending from the bottom thereof. The two points lie on a line perpendicular to the plane of the cutting wheel and support the cutting wheel in a position perpendicular to the glass surface. Depressions on the top and side of the device enable the user to grip the housing between the user's thumb and middle finger on the sides of the housing while pressing down on the top of the housing with the index finger.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,488 to Connolly discloses a glass cutter having an elongated finger plane formed with a handle portion extending from one end thereof. A flattened finger table is provided on the top of the finger piece for receiving the index and middle fingers of the user.
The entire disclosures of all of these patents are incorporated herein by reference.
A particular problem associated with the various glass cutters which have been used in the past is that the view of the line along which the glass is to be cut is obstructed. In the various glass cutters in the prior art, the body of the glass cutter, other portions of the glass cutter, or the user's hand as it holds the glass cutter obscures the line along which the glass is to be cut, making it difficult for an operator to cut glass accurately, especially if intricate patterns are to be cut.
Another problem with the glass cutters of the prior art is related to the position of the handle portion of the body. In these glass cutters the handle portion is located to the rear of the cutter wheel making it difficult for an operator to apply the proper even and steady pressure to the cutter wheel and resulting in operator fatigue during use.